Lone Wolf and Cub Volume 11: Talisman of Hades

"Talisman of Hades" is a nice title, but "Thirteen Strings" is the one you are not going to forget of the four stories collected in Volume 11 of the "Lone Wolf & Cub" magna epic. We had been confronted with a major development in the story as Ogami Itto stole the Yagyu letter. All pretenses were dropped as Reshido Yagyu declared open war on Ogami Itto, but Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima were showing the same sort of audacious subterfuge as their heroic creation, for as Ogami and Reshido crossed blades, Daigoro lost is hold on his father's shoulders and literally fell over a cliff. Suddenly the mystery of the Yagyu letter has become secondary because father and son have become separated. Their search for one another continues in these stories and for the first time we see Ogami Itto express emotion for his son:(55) "Talisman of Hades" finds Ogami Itto is now putting up pictures of a baby cart where once he had pasted the talismans of meifunado to invite clients of death and assassination. A group of young students on their way to an academy stumble upon the mystery of the signs and when they see the strange ronin slay a "priest" (another Yagyu assassin in disguise of course), they decide they must intervene, forcing Lone Wolf to teach them a valuable lesson.(56) "Ailing Star" has Daigoro finding a place to stay with an old granny who lives under a rotted bridge in danger of collapse. The locals keep trying to convince the old lady to leave, but she refuses. "Ailing Star" forms an interesting counterpart to "Talisman of Hades" as Daigoro has his own little lesson to impart. (57) "Thirteen Strings" is an 118-page story where Koike and Kojima come up with their own version of a Kurosawa film experience (the rain during the last acts of the story is a clue). When we come to end of this epic tale, surely "Thirteen Strings" will be one of the most memorable episodes. A runaway horse is about to trample a child in the road when Ogami Itto intervenes. The horsewoman turns out to be the Lady Kanae, Daughter of the Go-Jodai of Odawara Han, and a spoiled brat who fancies herself a samurai. Ogami also learns of a larger conflict between the Go-Jodai and the farmers. Drought has blighted the harvest for four years and the Go-Jodai has tightened the screws on the farmers, who "hire" Ogami to attend a meeting between the two sides (because if anything happens to Chosuke, the leader of the farmers, Lone Wolf will bring word back to the farmers). Go-Jodai has his own agenda for implementing fundamental agricultural reform. Meanwhile, his headstrong daughter seeks revenge on the ronin who has insulted her. But then the rains bring a sudden flood that changes absolutely everything. This is a memorable story of surprising depth, showing that Koike and Kojima are absolute masters of their craft.(58) "A Poem for the Grave" has Ogami Itto seeking help in finding the secret of the Yagyu letter. This turns into another assassination job, which results i

I happen to be quite a fan of big, sprawling epics, no matter what the medium may be. "Lone Wolf And Cub" is certainly turning out be quite an interesting one indeed. Continuing the plot from the previous volume, samurai-for-hire Ogami has been seperated from his son Daigoro during a brutal attack by his former masters, the Yagyu. As we begin this book, Ogami is on the search for Daigoro, but on his way he will run afoul of assassins and lone samurai. This volume lays out some great stories, as well as new developments in the series that will keep me reading indefinitely. For those unfamiliar with the series, it's best to start back at the first volume. For me (entrenched in the series already), this is another piece in Ogami's search for vengeance and another piece in the big puzzle of Lone Wolf And Cub.